I was speaking with a kind, hard-working, intelligent woman in the middle of a masters degree program. Yet she remembered as truth every misconception about the tragedy possible: that the Davidians were a suicide cult, that Koresh was molesting children and was threatening the feds, and that he "must have done something," otherwise the truth of his story would be out there, and the surviving Davidians wouldn't be doing time today. I'd hazard to guess her recollection of the story jibes with the majority's, and that is even though the Davidians got a relatively (for victims) good airing of their side.

The talk left me bewildered, sad, and an hour late for dinner. I count that conversation typical of 90% of the discussions that I have: that the state is an elemental force like a hurricane, and people who don't bow and scrape before it are responsible for their own demise -- not that it's just a collection of individuals who should be held accountable under the same rules as all humanity.